A/N: Hello all! Sorry for the wait, real life took some precedence over the story. There was also the fact that this part of the plot had some kinks that needed fixing. Hopefully this meets your expectations. Also a heart-felt thank you to all those of you who reviewed/favourited/alerted this story and me as an author! On with the story!

Spoilers: Up to Season 3 episode 13

Pairings: ArthurXGwen; slight GwenXLancelot; There is no slash in this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Merlin".

Chapter 5: New Friends and Old Acquaintances

Arthur was walking towards the training grounds to check up on some of the new recruits to his army. He turned his head to the right in the direction where he heard the sound of laughter. He saw the sight of Gwaine, Merlin, and Lancelot standing together sharing a joke.

Arthur knew that both Gwaine and Lancelot were friendlier with Merlin than anyone else but ever since Merlin had returned from the Isle their friendship had somehow grown stronger. He could see it even now.

The three were standing in a loosely formed circle a little ways away from the training grounds. Merlin had Arthur's armour lying on the table beside him and was saying something to the other two with a wide smile on his face.

That was another thing. Merlin seemed more relaxed with the two new Knights. It was odd. Arthur wasn't jealous per say but he felt that something had shifted in the dynamics of the friendship shared amongst the three people. As if some great wall that had been dividing them had suddenly broken down and brought them closer together.

He had come very close to asking Merlin outright what had changed between the three friends, but stopped himself. He didn't want to seem like he cared that much. Besides it was fine, Arthur didn't mind in the least. He just thought that it was odd how their friendship had gotten stronger.

As Arthur was contemplating this, Merlin suddenly dropped to his knees and Arthur saw a look on the manservant's face that he had never seen before. It was a mixture of absolute rage and hatred. Alarmed Arthur changed course and ran towards the trio.

As he neared he heard Lancelot say, "You need to find a way to stop this happening. If you get like this in front of someone other than me, Gwaine, or Gaius it'll mean trouble."

Although a part of Arthur wished to stay hidden and eavesdrop, his pride wouldn't let him. Besides, he was a little worried about Merlin. So he made his presence known by asking what was going on.

He saw all three start but only Lancelot and Gwaine looked around to face him. Merlin was breathing deeply with his eyes closed as if trying to wrest his emotions under control.

Arthur knelt near Merlin and gripped his shoulder saying, "Merlin, what's wrong?"

Merlin's eyes snapped open and a familiar quirky grin found it's place on his lips as he said, "Why, Arthur are you worried?"

Arthur relaxed slightly at the sarcastic response but didn't let the topic drop that fast, "Your face looked strange..."

He felt Merlin's shoulder tense underneath his hand as the servant replied, "I'm fine!"

Arthur narrowed his eyes, "Did Morgana do something to you that you're not telling me about?"

Merlin smiled slightly, "Maybe she did. I'm not sure. I think I'll go talk to Gaius."

With that Merlin abruptly stood and Arthur was forced to stand with him. Merlin waved to Lancelot and Gwaine, and then gave a mock bow to Arthur before turning around. He then raced off presumably towards Gaius's chambers.

The Prince turned to the two Knights. Both of whom abruptly bowed, mumbled something about guarding the gates, and rushed off. Arthur looked quizzically after all three of his skittish comrades and shook his head.

He pushed his suspicious feelings aside and walked towards the line of new recruits taking his armour, which was lying where Merlin left it, with him.

Merlin closed the door behind him and sighed in relief. That had been too close. The truth of the matter was that once Gwaine and Lancelot were told the whole truth, as in everything that happened to Merlin since he came to Camelot, the three had grown closer.

In the euphoria of telling his secret to two close friends and then having them accept him, Merlin forgot all about the bond he had built with Morgana. It slipped his mind to talk to Gaius about the emotions that were pouring out through the bond.

Today had been a close call. He hoped Arthur would let the topic go. He went into his room and pulled out his spell book. He needed to do some research on the bond. When Gaius returned from his rounds Merlin would tell him everything and then the two of them could find a way to block out Morgana's emotions from Merlin's mind.

Morgana was sitting in front of Alvarr and Mordred in silence. She had told them her story from start to finish. She began at the point where she had helped them try to steal the Crystal of Neahtid to the present day. She had included what she learned about Merlin along with that. She also told them of the bond now formed between Merlin and herself.

At first Morgana had doubted the existence of the bond, far too used to Merlin's incompetence. However, when she had awoken this morning on a bed in Morgause's hideout and felt the stirrings of rage and hatred go through her, a soothing emotion of calm had tried to blanket her thoughts from nowhere. She had forcefully thrown the emotion aside when she realized that they were Merlin's feelings.

Later she had buried Morguase's body after finding out where the guards had kept it. Then she had ordered two of them to head off and search for Alvarr and his band of renegades. Morgana had known that Alvarr's objective was the same as hers so she had decided to join with him.

She had been surprised to note that the guards of the High Priestesses were loyal to her. There weren't that many of them maybe about five or six but it had been enough. She had been sure that once she was with Alvarr's group there would be more. That had been what had occurred.

Now she sat in the middle of the renegade camp, waiting in silence. Then Mordred slowly got up and came to sit besides her holding her hand in the process. She smiled relieved that she had been accepted. She also felt a feeling of warmth go through her as Mordred held her hand. It was nice to have so many people accept her for who she was without question.

Then she heard Mordred speak, "I have known about Merlin for quite some time now."

Alvarr and Morgana looked at Mordred in surprise. The boy continued speaking, "His name is Emrys...or so the Druids call him. He is the destined warlock that will bring magic back to the lands along with King Arthur."

This shocked Morgana further and she said, "But Arthur hates anything magical. He is very much like his father. He follows whatever his father says without thought."

Mordred nodded and said, "I know. I don't believe in the prophecy at all. Merlin is weak. I think either the prophecy is wrong or the Druids have misconstrued it. Arthur slaughtered all of those Druids from my camp and Merlin didn't lift a finger to stop him. Merlin is definitely no destined warlock. He is a traitor to our kind. I will never forgive him...he tried to kill me too that day."

Morgana squeezed Mordred's hand tightly in comfort and turned to Alvarr. The leader of the renegades was staring at Mordred and then seemed to decide something as he nodded determinedly.

He then stood up and said, "I believe it's time we had our vengeance. I have a plan to make it happen. I know Mordred is willing to help out but what about you Morgana? Are you fully on our side?"

Morgana felt slightly irked at the question but she understood his hesitance. He needed to be sure of everyone's support or the plan would most likely backfire. So she said, "I have never been surer of anything in my life."

Alvarr and Mordred smiled. Morgana's thoughts turned to her hated family and friends back in Camelot...they wouldn't know what hit them!

A/N: I know very short chapter! This would be the smallest chapter I've ever written. But it has the main points that I needed so I'm going to leave it at that. The next chapter is where the fun begins so to speak. It will be the heart of the story...we're getting very close to the climax m'dears! Hopefully I'll be able to update the next chapter faster than this one. I'm quite sure the next one will be a lot longer!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter...I know it wasn't my best work. See you next time!